Judging
Date
July 28, 2025
Warehouse
Deadline
June 28, 2025
Winners
Announcement
August 12, 2025
For breweries, the USA Beer Ratings competition represents the perfect opportunity to get in front of influential judges, tastemakers and commercial buyers. An award from the USA Beer Ratings competition is a prestigious mark of approval that is highly valued by consumers when they are making the choice of which beer to buy. It awards beer brands that consumers really want to buy and have a clear market value for trade buyers.
Key Dates
Super Early Bird Ends - November 30, 2025
International Submission Closes - May 31, 2025
Domestic Submission Closes - June 30, 2025
Warehouse Closes - June 28, 2025
Judging Day - July 28, 2025
Winners Announced - August 12, 2025
For a beer to stand out in the USA Beer Ratings it has to perform well in each of three separate judging criteria:
Quality. All beers will be initially tasted blind to assess their quality and how drinkable they are for consumers in their target area.
Value for money. Beers will then be assessed to see how much value for money they are offering their consumers at that price point.
Packaging and design. As the majority of beer is bought with our eyes, the USA Beer Ratings will recognize beers that stand out on the shelf, or on a back bar, and will assess how well suited that design or packaging is to their target consumer group and at that price point.
Key Dates
Super Early Bird Ends - November 30, 2025
International Submission Closes - May 31, 2025
Domestic Submission Closes - June 30, 2025
Warehouse Closes - June 28, 2025
Judging Day - July 28, 2025
Winners Announced - August 12, 2025
Key Dates
Super Early Bird Ends - November 30, 2025
International Submission Closes - May 31, 2025
Domestic Submission Closes - June 30, 2025
Warehouse Closes - June 28, 2025
Judging Day - July 28, 2025
Winners Announced - August 12, 2025
The USA Beer Ratings looks to recognize, reward and help promote beer brands that have successfully been created to identify with and target a specific beer drinker. For any beer brand to earn its place on a retailer’s shelf or a restaurant’s beer list - and then vitally stay there - they need to be marketable and consumer-driven and not just produced in the general hope it can find enough people willing to sell and buy it.
Gold
+90 Points
Silver
+80 Points
Bronze
+70 Points
To win a USA Beer Ratings award you will need to score highly in all three areas of our judging criteria. You might have an outstanding quality beer, but if the price and packaging is not right, you will not be recognized by the USA Ratings. There is no point, for example, in having a 95 point beer if it does not look good or offer consumers great value for money. Those points mean it will remain highly respected within the trade, but it will also remain largely unsold on the shelf or languishing on a restaurant’s beer list.
That is why USA Beer Ratings is the leading beer competition in the US market with the rationale to rate beer per the preferences of the consumer and trade and rewarding beer as such. Beer entries will be judged by their Quality, Value and Packaging.
Q (Quality Score) + Value Score (V) + Package Score (P) = USA Beer Ratings Score.
Quality Score: will be marked out of 100
Value Score: will be marked out of 100
Package Score: will be marked out of 100
A separate weighted score will be given for each of the three parts of the judging process. The scores will be calculated to give a final score out of 100 from which individual prizes will be awarded.
Quality will be assessed based on how agreeable the beer is for its target customer and chemical analysis. UBR will measure quality by Appearance, Aroma, Body, Taste and Aftertaste.
Value in this context means how well the beer is priced based on its quality. If you think it offers excellent value, the score should be close to 100 of 100 and if you think it should be priced lower, then the score should be low. The metric to be used here is the retail price vs quality.
Packaging in this context is measured by how well you think the beer will be perceived by the consumer. This includes label, bottle colour, bottle shape and closure. This does not involve boxes, cartons and bags. It is how you think the product will be perceived when placed on a beer shelf amongst thousands of other beers.
The USA Beer Ratings will be assessed and judged by a leading panel of top-level beer buyers with current direct commercial buying responsibility. The list of judges will be drawn from leading retail chains, wholesalers, distributors and on-trade groups across a variety of channels and disciplines including multiple retailing, convenience stores, cash and carries, specialist retailers, casual and fine dining, hospitality and the travel industry.